>> tepco has a massive amount of debt. its group net loss for the last business year stood about $6.2 billion. the firm hopes to reduce this mainly by increasing electricity charges this fiscal year. this april tepco raised power rates for its corporate clients by an average of 17%. it is now waiting for the government to approve its plan to increase rates for households as well by an average of over 10%. however, tepco faced protest about the rate hikes at public hearings. participants said the firm is not doing enough to cut labor and other costs. similar objections were heard among shareholders today as strong opposition from consumers continues, it is not clear how much or when tepco will increase its charges. today shareholders approved the company's new management but we don't know if they can implement a new business plan. >> all right, thanks for that. and do keep us updated on this. >>> u.s. bureau federal investigations headed up a sting. they say officers arrested 24 men in eight countries preventing about $200

tepco employee takes into account our customers' needs. >> tepco has been attacked not just for its handling of the fukushima disaster but also for unilaterally imposing price increases. shimokobe is a 64-year-old lawyer. he served as chairman of the government-backed nuclear-damaged liability facilitation fund that helped tepco compensate disaster victims. he added it will be very hard for tepco to restart reactors at its idled plant in kashiwazaki-kariwa, niigata prefecture without consent from the local community. >>> the new tepco chair had an appointment with the governor of fukushima prefecture on the second day on the job. yuhei sato asked shimokobe to ensure the safe decommissioning of tepco's crippled reactors. the governor also wants the utility to compensate the people affected by last year's nuclear accident. sato met with shimokobe and tepco's newly appointed president naomi hiro in fukushima. shimokobe apologized to residents in the prefecture for the difficulties caused by the meltdowns and explosions at the nuclear plant. sato said people feel anxious whenever proble

tepco should continue thorough investigation and verification. but a mechanism is needed to secure objectivity and fairness. the results should be compared with a third party investigation and truly illucs date the cause to improve safety measures. >> hidehiro, thank you. that was hidehiro haneda for today's "nuclear watch." >>> a city in california has filed for bankruptcy. a sluggish housing market has slashed its tax revenue, and the city has found itself unable to pay wages and pensions. the city of stockton with a population of 300,000 is located in san francisco's suburbs. it has become the largest city in the united states to seek protection from creditors. officials say the city has racked up debts totalling about $700 million. it will now suspend debt payments and cut employee wages. an increasing number of cities and towns in the united states have been hit by the financial problems amid slow economic growth. in november last year, a city in southern alabama went bankrupt with the largest ever debts in the country. >>> here are the late

tepco employee takes into account our customers' needs. >> tepco has been attacked not just for its handling of the fukushima disaster but also for unilaterally imposing price increases. shimokobe is a 64-year-old lawyer. he served as chairman of the government-backed nuclear-damaged liability facilitation fund that helped tepco compensate disaster victims. he added it will be very hard for tepco to restart reactors at its idle plant in kashiwazaki-kariwa, niigata prefecture without consent from the local community. >>> the new tepco chair had an appointment with the governor of fukushima prefecture on the second day on the job. yuhei sato asked shimokobe to ensure the safe decommissioning of tepco's crippled reactors. the government also wants the utility to compensate people affected by the nuclear accident. governor yuhei sato, shimokobe and president naomi hirose met in fukushima. shimokobe apologized to residents in the prefecture for the difficulties caused by the meltdowns and explosions at the nuclear plant. sato said people feel renewed anxiety whenever problems have occurr

tepco should continue thorough investigation and verification. but a mechanism is needed to secure objectivity and fairness. the results should be compared with a third party investigation and truly elucidate the cause to improve safety measures. >> hidehiro, thank you. that was hidehiro hanada for today's "nuclear watch." >>> the death toll is rising as monsoon rains cause havoc across south asia. patchari raksawong in bangkok has this update. >> the number of fatalities continues to rise amid heavy rains in northeast india and bangladesh. floods and mudslides have destroyed homes and transport links have been severed. ap reports at least 27 people were killed friday as floodwaters raged across parts of assam state. officials expect the death toll to further. monsoon rains triggered floods that inundated more than 2,000 villages. about 1 million people have been forces to evacuate. >> translator: we face a lot of problems. floods swept away our homes. there's nothing to eat. no place to live. this village is completely submerged. there are two o

i will make sure tepco listens carefully to kritd simp of its outside culture and every tepco employee takes into account its customer's needs. >> tepco has been attacked not just for its handling of the fukushima disaster, but also for unilaterally imposing price increases. shimokobe is a 64-year-old lawyer. he served as chairman of the government-backed nuclear damage liability facilitation fund that helped tepco compensate disaster victims. he added it will be very hard for tepco to restart reactors at its idle plant in kashizaw kashizawa niigata prefecture without consent from the local economy. >>> barclas has been hit with the largest fine. must pay more than $450 million for manipulating key interest rates. the regulators say barclays manipulated the london interbank offered rate or libor. they made false reports on short-term interest rates from 2005 through 2009. the regulators say traders at barclays sought to benefit their positions by asking colleagues to fix the rate reports. bank officials admitted to the wrongdoing and said four top executives will give up their yearly b

tepco shareholders passed protestors on the way into the meeting. some suggested company leaders need to rethink their business model. >> i want tepco officials to think of ways to keep a stable supply of electricity while securing safety. >> reporter: as shareholders say, nuclear power is a necessary part of energy mix in japan. >> translator: we need nuclear energy because we don't have enough electricity in japan. we also need it for the japanese economy. >> reporter: company officials are planning to repair several reactors, along the sea offp jan coast. first they have to win over the public. >>> members of the shadowy international group found their way into places they shouldn't have been. the hackers known collectively as "anonymous" say they attacked several japanese government web sites. official as the finance ministry were working away when they detected an intruder. ministry officials shutdown part of the site after the hackers tampered with the content. the altered page included a photo of an overseas protest rally, a message opposing

job as chair a day ranslator: tepco is a huge led to pay ' needs and social i will make sure tepco listens carefully to outside criticism of its corpora needs. r in shimokob.d as chairman of the und that helped disaster added it will be very hard for tepco to rtart kashiwazaki-kari prefecture without >>> the new tepco ap fukushima prefecture yuhei sato asked shimokobe safe decommissioning governor also wanto compensate the peopler's nuclear accident.shimokobe and newlyesident naom in fukushima. residents in the prefecture he meltdowns and explost. sato said anxious whenever p in temporary housing. extensive damage to fecture. sato handed a written tepco executives and he ed the decommissioning of ecture, nd the payment of comp hiroif it takes a long tim >>> people in are focused disaster businesses, entire you their successes on "the road 1:00 p.m. japan time military p begun w combat ready south's they're dound a group of think the reserves and they them.e vietnamese believe th nhk wo actions china is trying tohin .nslator: vietnamcted angrily wednesday plan of the south the soughtre and

tepco that lead reactor moved images by the robotaven't helped t exact route traveled. spokespersonsfound no major damage rts believe reactased the largest amount radiation during the determined how it cont tepco officials repair the reactor, and thendecommissioning but they say radiation often stromding. take apinpoint the vessel. that's what their stuke. last earthquake proved be good the whole. experts survey in if the buildingsurvives an not. gearing up to make theirngs as quake he nhk world's tomoko kamata reports. >>on simulated what ha 2,000 buildings acr. after a f shaken for three entire ceiling fell down. you see the quake damaged the ccess hanged bents and tokyo destruction company be examining resistance of the ceilings. previous method of ceiling jolts as strong as the mar suspended ceilings are common int ke as did those of many large structures in the countrpoint out the dangers of conger if the earthquake was under way. kajima corporati many jap companies that are developing reinforcement measures for engineersd the suspension ceilingional boltsport beam

tepco's version of events is critical of politicians. it says government interference made matters worse, and led to failures in dealing with the accident. it cites then prime minister naoto kan as an example. the report also says kan was constantly on the phone issuing orders and asking people for information. it says intervention didn't help. but the utility's investigation doesn't address some concerns. for one, it fails to pinpoint what caused the release of so much radioactive material. it also doesn't detail how much damage the reactors suffered from the earthquake independent of the tsunami. the tepco report follows investigations by a government committee, a diet panel, and an independent group into how the utility and the government dealt with the crisis. but no investigation so far has looked squarely at what caused the meltdowns. that task has been left to tepco, because many parts of fukushima daiichi are still off-limits, or difficult to access because of high radiation levels. >> translator: i'm very doubtful that this repo

people cannot enter the site so tepco will use robots to assess damage and for any demolition. >>> the nuclear accident in fukushima has led to major changes in disaster preparedness. more cities and towns are carrying out emergency rules. nhk world has watched the latest exercise, he noticed a new sense of urgentry. takao nabeshima. >> i'm on an island in nagasaki prefecture. authorities are holding the first ever drill to evacuate residents from the island in the event of a nuclear crisis. azuchi-oshima island is almost 30 kilometers from the nuclear power plant. the island is holding its first ever drill because of a change. since the fukushima accident, all people living within 30 kilometers of a nuclear plant have to prepare for disaster. the previous limit was ten kilometers. all 1,200 residents have to be evacuated off the island. they're going to the island port where a boat is standing by. >> translator: we only have boats to get off of the island. this is a fact of life for island residents. >> translator: it's impossible to get all the residents on one boat. >> reporter: the

. >> tepco execs say the probe involved assessments and sper views with with about 600 staff. the report says the staff made everything they could to deal with unexpected events. they blamed staff for not properly operating the emergency cooling system. tepco's version of events is critical, but says government interference made matters worst and left to deal with the accident. it sites then prime minister as the example. he inspected the plant from a helicopter the day after the crisis started. the report also says he was also constantly on the issue issues words and asking people for information. it says the intervention didn't help, but the utilities investigation doesn't address some concerns. for one, it fails to pinpoint what caused the release of so much radio active material. it also doesn't detail how much damage reactors suffered from the earthquake independent of the tsunami. the report follows investigations by a government committee, a diet panel and independent group into how the eutility and government dealt with the crisis, but no investigation has looked squar

tepco officials need to find and repair the damaged parts of the reactor, so they can recover melted numbering clear fuel and then start the decommissioning process. but they say high radiation often stops workers from entering the building. they know this means it will take a long time to pinpoint the problems in the containment vessel. >>> cover your head, that's what teachers tell their students when earthquakes strike. last year's march earthquake proved that that advice may not be good enough if the whole ceiling comes down. experts released a survey in april showing that even if the main structure of a building survives an earthquake, the ceilings may not. construction companies are gearing up to make their building's ceilings as quake resistant as the rest of the structure. nhk world's tomoko kamata reports. >> reporter: this demonstration simulated what happened inside 2,000 buildings across japan on march 11th of last year. after a mockup room at a factory was shaken for three minutes, the entire ceiling fell down. you see the quake damaged the joints of the wires suspeccess

but tepco says it was impossible to check the valves because there was no power. the utility now says it needs to re-examine its fail safe system for total blackouts. and at the number three reactor, the government report says weak batteries stopped the emergency cooling system for nearly seven hours. it says employees underestimated the risk of the batteries going flat, but tepco says it had to stop the system to protect the water-injecting mechanism. and the government panel is expected to issue its final report by late july. >>> more than a year after the earthquake and tsunami, a young woman uses manga to tell the survivors' stories. in "the road ahead" we meet her and find out why she's taken this road. >> this manga shows what victims went through in the disaster. and how they are trying to recover. the author based the stories on actual conversations with survivors. mehoko is the storyteller. she began posting the manga on her blog soon after the disaster so readers understood the victims' ordeal. >> mom. someone. anyone. please help me. my mother's down he

but tepco had to stop the system to protect a water injecting mechanism. the panel will issue the final report by late july. >>> people in japan's northeast are focused on overcoming the challenges of the 2011 disaster but it won't be easy. they have to rebuild homes, businesses, entire communities. we'll show you their struggles and their successes on "the road ahead" at 1 p.m. japan time here on "newsline." >>> the advanced industrialized countries of the world are continuing to struggle. a global financi crisis has mutated into debt crisis for europe. the economies of emerging countries are developing at a rapid pace. the result is a shift in the centers of power and wealth. relationships between countries are changing none more so than great britain and its former colonies. >>> britain used to rule vast areas of the globe. today, the empire is a faded memory and so are the riches it once provided. the country is struggling with debt, government and private. companies are accepts buyout offers from other countries. hear rods has been in business since t

the plaintiffs say they want top tepco executives to testify in court. they are aiming to clarify who is responsible for the accident. >>> officials in the u.s. state of oregon are trying to get rid of a 20-meter-long problem. they're searching for a company to haul away a piece of debris from japan's tsunami, but the cost estimates to remove the concrete and polyestering foam docks are way too high. oregon officials put out a call for tenders wednesday. six firms made bids, but came in much higher than the estimated $20,000. the state is now offering to pay most of the transport cost if a local government will agree to reuse the dock. if there are no takers, officials will pick one of the six firms by the end of next week and pay for the disposal. the dock drifted ashore june 4th. authorities say -- authorities there say they don't want it back. the march 2011 tsunami dragged millions of tons of debris into the ocean. analysts expect more than 40,000 tons of it to reach within ten kilometers of north america's pacific coast by around february next year.

tepco will use robots to assess damage and for any demolition. american engineers have spent years learning how to decontaminate the nuclear sites. now they are teaching their japanese counterparts how to tackle the problems at fukushima. we have that story. >> reporter: workers have an extensive list in fukushima. they have to decommission the crippled reactors and decontaminate the area. japanese government officials say it will take up to 40 years to complete the work. japanese officers have asked for help for the nuclear issues. they hope the skills can help from the world's largest nuclear power can improve the situation. the environment ministry has over 30 years in nuclear decontamination. they invited the firm's executives to tokyo to meet with the japanese counterparts. several of the companies we find their techniques working on one of the u.s.'s largest nuclear cleanups. the site in the state of washington was once the countries's center of plutonium production. it provided the fuel for the nuclear bomb dropped on nagasaki in 1945. the